Like We're Meeting For The First Time
by Travel1701
Summary: "Her name is Christina and that's really all Stiles knows about her, despite the fact that they've been neighbors for about a year." Sterek 9/11 AU. When disaster strikes New York, Stiles discovers someone who he can lean on and who he can support in turn while he prays for his partner's safety.


Like We're Meeting For The First Time

By: Travel1701

Disclaimer: Don't panic. "Little Red" will be updated tomorrow. XD I actually dreamt this last night and had to write it down. Why? My muse likes to mess with me. It's random and weird and not what I normally write so I'm a bit nervous. Anyway, this isn't anything big. Read it if you'd like. All mistakes are mine and if you find some, please tell me. I'll never own Teen Wolf. Jeff Davis does. And I'm perfectly happy with that. :D Enjoy!

**P.S: Serious note. I do not mean to offend anyone with this fic. What happened that day was terrible and those lost will forever be remembered and missed.**

**(SterekSterekSterekSterekSter ek)**

When Stiles wakes up that morning, the side where Derek usually sleeps is empty. There are no sounds coming from the bathroom or the kitchen and when Stiles looks at the clock and sees that it's around six in the morning, he knows that his partner of three years is already out and headed to work. Slowly rising upright on the bed, Stiles stretches out his arms with a groan that turns into a sigh when his back makes a series of satisfying clicks. Getting up from the bed, he runs his hand over his short hair and proceeds to go about his normal morning routine, minus the sexy hunk of man that normally accompanies him.

He's sitting down on the couch in their tiny New York apartment, eating a piece of toast and watching some random T.V, about ten minutes to nine in the morning, when the entire world around him comes to a screeching halt. He's only half paying attention to some trailer for some movie when the screen suddenly changes to show a picture of the World Trade Center. One of the towers, Stiles isn't sure of which one it is. Black smoke is pouring from what looks like a large gap in the building. Stiles set his toast down on the coffee table as the news reporter, Dick Oliver, begins to speak.

"Jim, just a few moments ago, something believed to be a plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center." Stiles stops breathing. "I just saw flames inside, you can see the smoke coming out of the tower; we have no idea what it was. It was a tremendous boom just a few moments ago. You can hear around me emergency vehicles heading towards the scene." Swallowing down the last bit of toast that was still in his mouth, Stiles simply sits on his couch in shock. "Now this could have been an aircraft or it could have been something internal. It appears to be something coming from the outside, due to the nature of the opening on about the 100th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center."

Stiles sits there as the news channel continues to show the burning tower, in shock and unable to comprehend what he just heard. Before his very eyes, one of the Twin Towers is burning. Panic begins to rise in his chest as he thinks about all those people in the towers; were they going to be okay? Were they trapped? Oh God, what about their families? Stiles's eyes grow wider. 'Oh God…'

'Emergency vehicles heading towards the scene…' he thinks and before he can react, his front door opens. Stiles turns around, unaware of the tears that are starting to form in his eyes, to see his next door neighbor standing in his hallway, still her pajamas like himself.

Her name is Christina and that's really all Stiles knows about her, despite the fact that they've been neighbors for about a year. Stiles doesn't not like Christina and he's pretty sure that he would like her if he got to know her. He's also sure that Christina doesn't not like him too, because whenever they see each other in the hall, they'll nod or wave and say a few words before parting ways. In the year that they've been neighbors, Stiles knows her name, that she's married to one of Derek's co-workers, that her husband's name is Shaun, and that she has long black hair and brown eyes. That's it. And he's pretty sure her list of things she knows about him is just as small. It should be surprising to see her in his hallway, because the door had been shut and you can't just barge into someone's home.

But Stiles isn't surprised. Not at all. Instead of asking why she was there and why she didn't knock, Stiles simply holds out a shaking hand to her. Christina makes her way from the hallway and into the living room, takes Stile's hand into her own, and sits down next to him on his couch. Her grip is nearly painful but that's okay because Stiles's grip is just as strong. They don't say a word to each other as they huddle together on the couch and turn back to the screen to watch the events unfold before them. They don't need words. They don't need to say anything because out of all the handful of facts Stiles knows about Christina, the most important one is this:

Both of their partners are New York firemen and there is not a single doubt in their minds as to where they are right now.

So they don't speak. Stiles holds Christina's hand tightly and has one arm around her waist, holding her close. Christina is the same, her fingers clutching Stiles's oversized pajama top. It's one of Derek's spare work shirts. Both of their cell phones are on the coffee table. They hope that they ring and pray that they don't. They sit there silently in shock as another plane crashes into the South Tower. They watch horrified as they hear news that another plane has crashed into the Pentagon. After nearly an hour after being hit, Stiles and Christina cling to each other tightly as the South Tower begins to fall and large clouds of smoke and dust fill the skies. They hold each other when the smoke clears and the South Tower is gone. Christina makes a soft sobbing sound in her throat when they hear that yet another plane has crashed somewhere outside Somerset County in Pennsylvania. Stiles makes that same sound when the North Tower follows its twin down to the Earth not a half an hour later.

Time flies by at an excruciatingly slow pace as Stiles and Christina watch the horrific event before them. Their apartment building is far from where the Twin Towers stood so they don't worry about evacuating. Hours pass by, but neither move from the couch or any from each other. Both are crying silently, mourning for the people on the planes; mourning for the people in the buildings and for all of their families who will never see their loved ones again. They pray for their lovers who are no doubt right in the middle of the destruction of Ground Zero, as the news is calling it. They pray for their safety; they pray that they find someone, anyone, within the rubble alive. They watch the ambulances on stand-by of any injured continue to stay empty, proof that the likelihood of finding people alive are slim to none.

It's amazing how fast the day goes by and how slowly it takes for it to end. Stiles and Christina are still on the couch with their cell phones on the coffee table as the light starts to fade from the sky. They've been sitting there all day, saying nothing. Just holding each other up and trying to keep each other calm. Because that's what it took to be in a relationship with someone like a fireman or a policeman or a member of the army. You had to stay calm. There really was no other way to go. God, if Stiles had freaked out every time he thought Derek was in danger, he'd be a basket case by now. So Stiles and Christina continue to sit there and comfort each other silently, reminding each other to stay calm and not to jump to conclusions. Their men are strong; their men are brave. They'll be okay. They have to be.

It isn't until midnight that Stiles's phone rings and he hesitates for a second before reaching for it and answering. It's Derek and Shaun's chief. Stiles and Christina were right: they were at Twin Towers before they'd fallen and they'd been at Ground Zero all day, digging through the rubble in hopes of finding someone. Stiles doesn't release his breath until the chief tells him that Derek and Shaun are just now being checked over by medical personnel and that they're being sent home. Stiles manages to tell the chief to let Shaun know that his wife is at his apartment before he hangs up, more tears falling from both his and Christina's faces. But these tears are not only tears of grief. These tears also hold relief and happiness because their men are okay and they're coming home.

It takes Derek and Shaun another two hours before they finally arrive and by then, it's one in the morning. Derek is in the living room first, still dressed in his uniform minus the jacket and without a word, he swoops Stiles into his arms and holds him tightly, hiding his face into his partner's neck and letting out a choked sob. Stiles can hear Christina sobbing as her husband follows Derek in and he knows that the two are embracing each other as well, but at the moment, all that matters is the man in his arms.

There is dust in Derek's hair and a small bandage on the left side of his face. He smells of dust and rubble and he's shaking in Stiles's arms. Stiles knows that he's shaking just as hard but neither really care and the two just press closer to each other. Seeking comfort and physical proof that yes, they were okay. A disaster like no other on American soil has just occurred, but they're alive, they're alive.

It takes them awhile, but Stiles and Derek managed to break the embrace, though Derek still has an arm wrapped firmly around Stiles's middle, to see Christina and Shaun in the same position. It's quiet. Stiles lays a hand on Christina's shoulder, asking silently if they would like to stay for tonight but she shakes her head. Stiles nods, understanding that need for your own space and understanding Christina's own need to get her man home.

The four make their way to the front door and before they leave, Christina pulls away from her husband to give Stiles a hug. The two take a moment, just holding each other, before Christina finally speaks for the first time all day.

"It's nice to finally meet you neighbor," she whispers, and Stiles tightens his hold on her.

"You should come over for dinner sometime," he manages to whisper back. "Bring Shaun and you can finally meet Derek properly."

She nods and when they pull away, there are matching bittersweet smiles on their faces. Christina and Shaun leave and Stiles gently closes the door before he turns and pulls his partner into another bone-crushing embrace.

In the near future, Christina and Shaun will come over for dinner, further cementing their new friendship with Derek and Stiles. Derek and Shaun will start giving each other rides to work, switching off now and again. Stiles will help Christina when her in-laws arrive because she can't cook and Stiles will blow away her mother-in-law with his homemade lasagna. Stiles and Derek will be the first ones to hear about Christina's car accident and they will stay up all night with Shaun at the hospital to make sure that she's okay. Derek will comfort Shaun when he starts to beat himself up over the accident and Stiles will visit Christina everyday in the hospital until she's released. Shaun will be the one who will hear Stiles's shriek when an intruder breaks into his and Derek's apartment while Derek is out at work and Christina will be the one holding Stiles, making the 911 call while Shaun knocks the intruder out cold.

Stiles will be the first to hear about the baby and will be the one helping Christina pick out baby names while Derek will be the one to take Shaun out for a congratulatory drink. Stiles and Derek will be the ones who help Shaun and Christina move into their little upstate New York home and none of them will be surprised when about a year later, Stiles and Derek move into the house across the street from them. Christina and Shaun will be Stiles and Derek's witnesses when New York finally legalizes gay marriages and they'll be the ones who housesit for them while Stiles and Derek are on their honeymoon.

The future is bright when it comes to the friendship between the four of them, but for now, the future is the farthest thing in Stiles's mind. All that matters to him is that the man he loves is safe at home, in his arms. Outside, the world will spin on and although tomorrow is sure to bring more tears and grief and sorrow, as Stiles presses his lips against Derek's, he knows that together they, and all of New York, will pull through and prevail in the end.

**END**

A/N: Yeeeeaaah. …I don't really know. I was about seven when the Twin Towers fell. I can remember our neighbors just coming over and sitting with us as we watched the news. My mom didn't really know any of them, but after that, we all became very close and I was sad when I moved away. So… umm… random one-shot is random. :P Review if you liked or if you think I'm crazy or if you want me to take it down because I can do that too. U^^ Thanks for reading and have a good night!


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